Is Exeter uni’s intake still mostly from the independent sector?

[Bell8484]

And if so is this an issue for those from state/ more diverse backgrounds?

Thank you that is really good to know.

Actually @Bell8484 you are making huge assumptions about me there. How do you know that I don’t ‘have such a kid’? I do actually have a child with a specific need for additional support and their own progression to higher education is by no means a given.

My paragraph about ‘knowing how the world works’ as you describe it was musing on my own experience of emerging into the world, nothing about your daughter.

There are independent school students who have disabilities, get cancer and have parents die. I am not just stating the obvious; all of these are real life examples from families that I know or are aware of locally.

They are just people at the end of the day and where her fellow students went to school should not make any difference to your daughter’s experience of university.

Not making any assumptions, your child is of no interest to me. You asked a question, I replied.

I guess about 45% of students would be from UK state schools if 30% are from private and 25% international students

‘Your child is of no interest to me’
Unpleasant and unnecessary. You have literally posted a thread asking for information and input in order to support your own daughter.

I won’t rise to this and wish your DD the very best of luck at university, whether at Exeter or somewhere else.

Unfollowing this thread.

TBH it never occurred to me or DD to wonder about the percentage of privately educated students when looking at universities. When DD was at Newcastle about 24% of students were privately educated.

DD says it never really came up in conversation. Interestingly, state educated DD made several friends who were privately educated. In fact, all her best friends were privately educated. She doesn't have preconceived ideas about other people's education.

Maybe it helps that her best friend at home was privately educated and is the most down to earth person you could meet who doesn't have a shred of self entitlement.

Generally I’d agree but this uni does seem to stand out particularly as regards this. Part of getting the full picture is to research it a bit more.

DD was surprised at how many of her cohort had spent a gap year abroad, she spent hers working in a supermarket. She has found friends but when life experiences are so different it's often difficult to find common ground. Overall though she's had a really positive experience. She had various contextual offers but didn't need them. Exeter's a nice city, quite compact and nothing's too far away. I (and she) would recommend!

That’s so good to hear! Do they try and find ways to link up similar students?

This is from a quick google of the top 10 universities with the highest percentage of private school undergraduates. It may not be 100% accurate but is hopefully helpful.

Durham University (approx. 39%)
University of St Andrews (approx. 36%)
Imperial College London (approx. 33%)
University of Oxford (approx. 31%)
University of Exeter (approx. 30%)
University of Edinburgh (approx. 30%)
University of Cambridge (approx. 28%)
University College London (approx. 27-29%)
London School of Economics (LSE) (approx. 26%)
University of Bristol (approx. 25%)

😂 I went to Durham ( from a bog standard state comp in a rough area) and this doesn't surprise me at all!

There's lots of societies and clubs to join, she doesn't socialise much with people on her course but she does with friends she's met through various societies :)

Durham seems to have 30% international students but they are looking to increase this to 39%. Which will leave 22% as UK state students

My DC got a contextual offer from Exeter, but not from anywhere else he applied to, so it would seem they want to encourage state school DC to apply.

That’s reassuring! Thanks for that info.

My daughter went to a state school and is there and enjoying it. She probably sounds a lot posher than we actually are though. She has met a lot of Welsh people since she has been there, not sure if that’s just fluke or whether it is actually a popular uni in Wales.

DD went to a good but non-selective local comprehensive school and has just finished her second year at Exeter. She is really enjoying it. Quite a few of her friends went to private schools but that doesn't seem to have made any difference. I don't think they really discuss school, although in the case of her friends, they don't seem to know other people from their schools anyway. It might be different if they'd known several others from their school at Exeter.

I would have thought there was quite a lot of overlap between private school and international students though.

At any university, politeness - even kindness - goes a long way in students getting along with each other, and with university staff. So I hope that your DC has better manners than you are showing on this thread.

Just to reiterate: no staff member routinely has access to where a student went to school. And why would any staff member be interested once a student has been admitted to a degree?

As an External Examiner at Exeter, what I saw was the dedication of academic st and real care and concern in helping students be the best they could be.

So I think the stats of private vs state are done for UK only, so if a Uni's intake of undergrads was (eg) 50% international /50% domestic, and it stated its private school % as 20%, that would mean that in total the split would be 50 % international, 10% UK private, 40% Uk state.

However, as people have said upthread, there is a high likelihood that the % of privately educated amongst the International students will be far higher than the % for domestic students- probably more like 80% - so if you choose a Uni which has a very high % of internationals and quite a high % uk private, there is a scenario in which a majority of undergrads were privately educated.

Weirdly though, no-one seems to be bothered about the backgrounds of international students.

or Yahs

Certain unis are more popular with privately educated students such as Exeter, Durham and Oxford Brookes for example. Because it’s a safe option / environment for them. This doesn’t mean state school students will feel excluded it’s just that these students want to go where their friends are going and where they’ll feel safe and comfortable.

As someone from the state grammar system, that's off putting to hear. And please don't come and say how does it matter? If it didn't matter people wouldn't send their kids to private.

To those with state school kids at Exeter, how are /were they integrating with their privately educated fellow students?

State school students per se wouldn’t have an issue in the slightest but if they’re from a particularly deprived part of the UK with family and friends who resemble characters from the show Shameless then you’ll likely feel out of place.